But, I think with my current non-existent fitness level, and the local terrain, then it's a no.

I went out yesterday, managed an hour before I had to turn back. Admittedly I didn't pick the best day or trail, a very soft and rutted trail that just went up and up, and into a howling headwind too.

The ride back to the car was brilliant though!

I have the motivation, but I just couldn't get any revs up, and I'll quite happily sit grinding away in a low gear.... after all I went out to go on my bike, not to go for a walk!

I have a replacement sliding dropout with a mech hanger for the Black Sheep, and my wheels will take a cassette, so I think I will run it geared for a while until I get a base-level fitness back, then if I feel I want to single speeding, I'll at least have the option.

Single speed bikes are like Fat bikes, there is a time and place they will excel, but it finding that place and talking from brief experience, Harris might not be that place...

They work well with rolling trails, a 2-3 min out the saddle climb, followed by a gradual downhill, making the most of the height gain

If you have soft ground/head wind/long sloggy climbs you won't win any friends, the rigid forks mean you can get out of the saddle and not lose half your power, it's all about momentum, keep it spinning along and you'll be fine, lose it on the hills and it becomes a chore...

Just stay on the singlespeed for training! The reason is simple, you could use your argumentation even for an e-bike or regular bike discussion. Of course the e-bike/geared bike will help you to gain some fitness, but for serious single speed riding you will need more than that and the only way to learn: riding with one gear no matter what. Do the same ride a second, a third, a fourth time and you will see you start to enjoying it. If not (I doubt that will happen with your lovely sheep) you can still put gears on it... Dont give up, yet!

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